Apologies for the late response on this title, and apologies for clogging up an inbox on old titles.

While I am aware it's obvious, I have chosen not to read/review this title.

As always, I appreciate access to titles and look forward to the next one...which I have likely already read based on how long ago this title was published.

Thanks, again.

Shannon Stacey’s rom com romance will be a great escape. Noah and Carly will have you faling in love with them.

One Summer Weekend
Cedar Street, Book 1

I Picked Up This Book Because: Catching up on some old ARCs.

Media Type: Digital
Source: Netgalley
Dates Read: 9/28/21 - 10/6/21
Stars: 4 Stars
Narrator(s):

The Characters:

Noah Stafford:
Carly Randall:
Zoe Randall,

The Story:

Noah and Carly have been lifelong best friends. Noah needs Carly to pretend to be his girlfriend while attending a wedding in order to keep his boss’ matchmaking ways at bay. She agrees and then what happens on the cape stays on the cape. I really enjoyed this story. Friends to lovers is one of my top tropes. This was fun and frisky and probably super quick for someone who can focus.

The Random Thoughts:

Challenges:

Year of Smut 2021 - A book with a number in the title

Stacey has always found a way to worm into my heart and libido with her writing and this new series kicks off with one of those typical romance tropes that you just think would be boring. Thankfully she reminds us that sometimes the reason the friends-to-lovers idea is used so often in stories is because it works so beautifully! I love most everything I have ever read by Shannon Stacey and Noah and Carly’s story is one that is both fun and sexy while showing that sometime love can sneak up from the most interesting places and bit us on the butts. Noah has been best friends with Carly his whole life, but has never looked at her as more than a friend, so he’s not really sure why he told his boss she was his girlfriend except he lost his mind in the moment. Now he’s in a serious jam and needs Carly to pretend along with him for a long weekend away while his boss gets married. Carly has never imagined Noah in a romantic way either, but once the idea is in her head it’s hard to get out and soon they are both dealing with the heat of a passion that takes them by storm, but even more scary are the emotions that run even deeper. Could their friendship all these years have really been hiding a love for the ages? Carly and Noah were both interesting characters. Noah is a not really a playboy so much as that fun guy that everyone enjoys being around, especially Carly, but seeing his past with women definitely puts her on alert when feelings develop. Thankfully Noah seems up to the challenge of proving that he is just for the guy for the gun-shy and daring Carly. He is sweet guy for sure even if he doesn’t quite know how to handle the changes in his life as he accepts that maybe he was hiding behind friendship all these years with Carly out of his own fears. Carly has reasons to be cautious of love, but she begins to trust in Noah and I began to like her more as she spread her wings and explored their passion and love more. She was a bit of an enigma, but I did enjoy her relationship with her cousin and her strength was apparent. The heat between Carly and Noah began at a slow simmer as they both began to see one another differently, but the buildup and ultimate burn were amazing to watch. I am looking forward to the next story where we get to see Carly’s cousin find love as well. Keep up the amazing writing Ms. Stacey, you have a fan for life here.

*~~*ARC kindly provided from the publisher/author to me for an honest review *~~*

Full review to come

5 stars

This was a quick, sweet read. A lot of times with novellas, I feel like I don't get a whole story, but that wasn't the case with this one. Noah and Carly have been best friends forever, and Noah needs Carly to pretend to be his girlfriend for a wedding. If you've ever watched a Hallmark movie, you know where this one is headed =) I liked that Noah was able to realize quickly that Carly was truly the woman for him. The ending was super sweet, and I loved that Carly was able to have what she had envisioned since she was little. This was a first for me from this author, but I would definitely read the next book in this series.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced readers copy of this book.

One Summer Weekend is the first story in the new Cedar Street series from Shannon Stacey. I love a friends-to-lovers troupe like crazy so One Summer Weekend is like book crack to me.

Noah and Carly have been best friends pretty much since they each can remember. In the words of so many characters from Grey's Anatomy, they are each other's person. However, Noah now needs Carly to pose as his pretend girlfriend for his boss's destination wedding, as Noah has told him they have been dating for 6 months.

I loved both Noah and Carly and found them each to be smart and funny. I loved they had been best friends forever, but could totally tell they would both fall fast and hard once they moved beyond friendship. As this was a novella length story, the pacing was pretty fast for them to move from friends only to lovers, yet it worked for me. I could feel the love they felt for one another from the beginning, even when they each felt it was only friendship. They had great chemistry and it really burned hotter the more time they were at Cape Cod...their idea of what happens at the Cape stays at the Cape had me cracking up laughing and feeling all the happy sighs the more they were together.

One Summer Weekend was a fast, fun, and easy read. It is a novella length story, so everything moves pretty fast, and it works well. I loved the characters and seeing them move from friends to lovers. I can't wait to hopefully see more of these characters in future books in this series. Shannon Stacey has been an auto-buy author for me since I read her very first book and One Summer Weekend only made me want more stories from her.

Rating: 4 Stars (B+)

This was such a fun read! I love a good friend to lover's story and this is a fantastic one. I really liked Noah and Carly a lot & it was fun to see them try to not give in to their attraction to one another. Their friendship really felt quite real which is nice - it didn't feel like it was just there to ensure the friends to lovers trope would work. Low angst, very steamy and fun! This is a novella which aren't always successful for me as you don't get 300 pages to get to know them. But, Shannon Stacey did a great job and it felt like a FULL novel!

This is a quick and also fun read, but I also think something's missing from the story???? Carly and Noah are cute together but I needed to feel more of their long-years friendship, and it didn't truly deliver.

I love Stacey's Kowalski books and feel she does light happy books with oomph very well but this one lacked a little more oomph for me. I thought that it was missing just a little extra something to make me care about the characters or the outcome.

This is a plot that has been done a lot. Fake relationship, only one bed, one thing leads to another... but Shannon Stacey finds a way to tell this classic rom-com story in a new and interesting way. Noah is a very relatable hero who is just trying to get ahead in his job and things quickly get out of hand where he has to ask his best friend Carly to pretend to be his date to a wedding. The chemistry is clearly there for everyone except them... until even they can't ignore it. The story flowed easily and was easy to read in one sitting and ended leaving me feeling a little fluttery for the characters even after I put the book down. Anyone looking for a great feel-good story should read this.

Received an ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

This was perfect! A friends-to-lovers story that keeps you hooked from the first page. Carly and Noah have been best friends forever and when she accompanies him to a wedding as his fake girlfriend, they decide to take their relationship up a notch in the physical department. Can their friendship survive?

For a short read, this one had a lot of heat, but it also had me completely emotionally invested. I can't wait for Zoe to meet her man and whatever else comes from Shannon Stacey!

A fun story that has Noah Stafford pretending that his best friend Carly Randall is his girlfriend. The rouse started innocently enough because of a picture of her on his desk. Then without even thinking he added one with them together. Working in a small company and then one day the boss wanting to double date, but really set him up with his future sister in law the sister of his fiancé, Noah said he had a girl friend and pointed to the pictures of Carly. The boss thinking that, that was a relative or friend was now happy to find out that he was dating someone. Carly shows up at Noah’s house for their weekly quad ride but as they are loading up the quads, she knows something is going on with him.
She finally confronts him when they get to the top of the ridge and he explains how he told his boss that they were dating. She was okay not bad; he then says we have been invited to there wedding this weekend in the Hamptons. She thinks about it on the ride back to the truck and by the time to the house she has her own set of terms. After agreeing to her terms, they go to the wedding and from there the story really takes off at least for me. The two characters connect for me and I really enjoyed the story when they were at the wedding. I think this all works because they are friends and have been friends for such a long time, but they also like so many of the same things and doing them together which really helps this story. Overall a very good book.

Absolutely wonderful story of two friends who realize they love each other. Yes, friends to lovers is a common trope, but it doesn’t get any better than this one! I can’t wait for the next story!

ONE SUMMER WEEKEND is the first book in Shannon Stacey’s “Cedar Street” series. This is a perfect book for readers who enjoy the “friends to lovers” romance trope. I especially liked that there wasn’t that much angst in this story. Noah Stafford and Carly Randall have been BFFs since they were little kids. Everything changes when Noah invented, for convoluted reasons, a girlfriend and needs to present one for a destination wedding. The vibe between these friends changes quickly and things turn super steamy. For me, the quick change was awkward for about a minute, but it worked for the characters. The romantic beach setting contributed to the believability of the characters getting swept away by passion.

This story is told from alternating perspectives, which enables the readers to get a sense of the vulnerabilities and reasoning of both Noah and Carly. You never got the sense, while reading ONE SUMMER WEEKEND, that the characters carried a torch for each other for years, but that they had blinders on. The friendship was always supremely important, so these two people mentally blocked out any possible attraction. When Carly and her cousin hear about Noah’s scheme, their first reaction is that he’s been watching too many romantic comedies and are not quick to take him seriously. The well-defined and well- written characters keep this story from seeming too cliché. In this story of friends becoming lovers, it’s the woman who is the most cautious about drifting into a romantic relationship in uncharted territory with her friend. Noah is first to realize how something long-term between them can be both possible and extraordinary. I’m always a sucker for the hero wearing his heart on his sleeve, so I love Noah’s eventual heartfelt declaration.

ONE SUMMER WEEKEND is about a love that takes two friends by surprise but is satisfying and sensational once they give in to it. This is a fun and sexy character-driven story and reminds me why I love Shannon Stacey’s books. I look forward to Shannon Stacey’s next book.

Noah and Carly have been friends most of their lives. So after telling his boss that Carly was his girlfriend so his wife would stop setting him up, it was no surprise when Carly agreed to play along for the wedding of Noah’s boss on Cape Cod.. Things go from friends to lovers really quickly. Things won’t change between them, they decide. What happens on the Cape, stays on the Cape! But it isn’t that simple. Carly wants things to go back to the way they were before, despite how they both feel. Noah doesn’t understand why they can’t continue with this new relationship, but Carly knows that she and Noah don’t want the same things. He’s committed averse, and she wants the classic, husband and family.

This is a classic friends to lovers romance. This book reads very quick, everything transpires in over a few days, so it does not feel like we got to know the characters very well. However, it is an enjoyable read.

ONE SUMMER WEEKEND by Shannon Stacey is a sweet best friends to lovers romance. It all starts with a pretend romance for a weekend wedding date and turns into so much more. Shannon Stacey is a wonderful author and I enjoy every book I get a chance to read.

Incredibly funny and full of friendship Noah needs a plus one for a date at wedding at the Cape and he has already and told them his best friend Carly is actually his girlfriend. What could possibly go wrong? Having sex with said friend and using like what happens at the cape stays at the cape - only that doesn't work. All those years of friendship gone because they want different things in life or are they really?
Shannon Stacey has a way with words that make you smile through the book. You will enjoy this so very much.

Had to have this book because I love the fake relationship to love trope. I always find it entertaining and fun. This book did not disappoint and I love the chemistry they have. I definitely recommend this one if you enjoy the fake relationship scenario. Thanks NetGalley.

This novella was EXACTLY what I needed to read.

After forcing myself to trudge through a book that made me ragey, I needed one that was fun, lighthearted, and uncomplicated. The thing I’ve come to appreciate about Shannon Stacey is that she writes stories about normal people, who behave like adults. She even took tropes I generally dislike - the fake relationship and friends-to-lover - and mostly stayed away from the things that make me dislike them.

Carly and Noah have been best friends for as long as they can remember. Now that they’re adults (although I don’t believe we’re ever given a hint as to what age they are), it’s caused some issues for their romantic relationships. Well, mostly for Carly - who’s ready to settle down and start a family - since Noah keeps things casual and fun with his lady friends.

When Noah tells his boss that he has a girlfriend, he thinks he's dodged a matchmaking bullet, until he’s expected to bring the girlfriend to his boss’s wedding. After tense negotiations, Carly agrees to play the part. And when things evolve from best friends to a lot MORE than friends, they agree to play the part for the weekend.

Of course once they get home, neither really wants to go back to being just friends. The way things go down between them once they get home is endearing and sweet, and stayed completely away from how every other book in this trope goes. Thank goodness!!!

This story is fun, loaded with Ms. Stacey’s usual witty banter. It was plagued with repeated phrases and repetitious thoughts - the reader is constantly reminded the hero and heroine are best friends, and have been their whole lives, and that they don’t want to ruin their friendship (which is the thing that bugs me about this fake relationship/friends-to-lovers trope). However, this is probably one time when a story being a novella works in favor of the plot, since the author didn’t have to fill in pages and pages of trumped up drama and artificial angst. No, these characters were smart, and sweet, and there was no being stupid for the sake of “saving the friendship.”

Bravo Ms. Stacey! I always like the refreshing take she puts on her stories, and I’m looking forward to the next novella in this series.

*thank you to NetGalley and HARLEQUIN-Carina Press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review